The Unknown Nature of Change
Change is constant and is also unknown. As we set out to accomplish anything, something will change in the process, and although some outcomes are mundanely reliable, like a dirty cup becoming clean when we wash it, much of what we do even on a daily basis actually has results that are completely unknown to us until it's completion. Even a dirty cup might have a spot missed, or could slip from our hands and break...we don't really know and that unknown can be scary sometimes, but also very interesting.
In the vast space that is our universe so much is yet unknown. We live in a world where new things are being discovered all the time; scientific breakthroughs, advances in technology, newfound species of plants and animals. We are continually finding out just how much we don’t already know and how incredible the universe is. Some scientific research actually “proves” the ancient wisdom of philosophies that have already been known for thousands of years. Much of the modern world is based and enculturated in what we “know”, what we can prove, but there are plenty of things we can’t prove that we know to be true within ourselves. And there are all kinds of things that we witness and experience daily, even though we may not know how they happen. We are each a part of the whole of the universe and therefore connected to it. We are connected to the cycles of nature, to nature itself, to other life and other humans in the grand scheme of the universe as a whole. We are connected to its energies and it’s whims and through that connection, we can align ourselves with it to find balance and understanding in our lives.
Just as science is constantly making new discoveries, there are new discoveries to be made in ourselves as well. If we learn to listen, we too can know what’s true in the world. We move through each day, in reality, not knowing what it will bring. We may know the tasks we need to complete, the plan for the day, and what we want to happen, but ultimately, each day is an unknown. And each day is an opportunity, a possibility for some thing we’re not expecting, to happen. It may be a chance encounter with someone that reminds us of our humanness, it may be a new problem that needs to be solved at work that stretches our mind, it may be catching the sunset on our way home that reminds us
of the beauty of the world and gives us a moment of peace. Good or bad, it’s an opportunity to connect to the whole.
The one thing we can always count on is change. Whether we like it or not, or are aware of it or not, change is constantly happening, so we’re really always experiencing the unknown, but we want to feel like we have some control over our lives, like we are steering our own ship. It is useful to set clear intentions, to have some idea which direction we’re headed and if we set those intentions and take action on them, we can trust that the universe is at our backs. But it does not always look or play out how we expect. We will get to where we’re going eventually but often times not on the path we had imagined and not in the same timeline we might have liked. There’s a bit of trust to develop with the flow of the universe. Not knowing can feel unsure or unstable, but when we learn to listen to our inner guidance that is connected to the whole, connected to nature, we may actually find some balance, some grounding from which we can trust the direction the universe leads us and embrace the changes along the way.
Are you ready to practice embracing the unknown? Take some time this week to notice the places in your daily life where you feel you know what the outcome will be of your actions. Do you really know? A practice to try is just saying "I don't know". Trust and connect and see where it leads you.